A Summer's Day
by Chazz 'Selrahc
Summary: Hope was looking forward to spending a week sleeping in a small cabin at the beach for his break. However with the arrival of 'Her' rest is out of the question. Will a week with Her be more enjoyable then Hope thought? Or will he go insane? AU
1. Gooby rest hello pain

Spring break. Seven days of nothing but pure relaxation and laziness. A time where I can rest my sixteen year old brain and flop around on a hammock all day reading a gameinformer. Heck if I'm really feeling adventurous I might hop on fanfiction and see if any new stories were added to my favorite game, Final Fantasy XIII, and see if my favorite pairing has any updates.

"Hey come on." However as 'her' pouting voice graces my ears I just want to die. "Aren't you going to let me in?" Maybe I should drown myself in the toilet?

"Go away." I grumble as I walk briskly down the beach, towards the cabin my father rents every year.

"You're not being very nice." 'She' says, 'her' sandals making an odd sound as she tries to sneak up on me.

Why was she here? How in God's green, well mostly blue, earth did she wind up here?

Actually I should have expected it. I've been depressed for the better part of a year, with my mom and dad always fighting and my girlfriend, Vanille, leaving me a year ago I guess it's pretty normal.

Most guys get depressed when the girl of their dreams just dumps them, out of the blue without any reason. And she did it with such a smile, such a peppiness, that it makes me think I never meant anything to her. Made me want to die, sure as Hades made me swear off girls for the rest of my life. Seriously, nothing but heart break and I don't need that. Not with my parent's marriage falling apart and Eden University having a problem with my application…

Beside the point. The point is when I saw my mom smiling so brightly during the drive here I should have suspected something. I mean sure at first I thought maybe she had patched things up with dad and they were going to stay together. Maybe I thought, no I hoped, she was just happy spending time with me for once. Hell, I would have settled for her being on something….

"Come on Hope." 'She's' walking up next to me. "You know you want to; I mean what straight guy wouldn't want to hang out with a beautiful girl like me…" 'She' was beside me now.

"You're not that pretty."

Mom had opened the door and tossed me and my suitcases out. Then in a display of just atrocious driving mom peeled her tires out before rocketing down the black top and out of sight.

I should have ran after her, screaming and shouting for her to slow down. Heck it would have even been better if I just jumped out in front of a truck and got killed…

"Hey!" 'She' shouts before punching me hard in the arm. "I'm the hottest girl that's ever hung around you." I stumble forwards and trip, landing hard on my back. That was one heck of a punch.

"Why'd you hit me?" I grab my arm and curl up a little, I'm a weakling when it comes to fighting and 'she' didn't hold back at all.

"Because you deserved it." I look up at her face.

It would have been better to be put in a coma then be forced to hang around 'her.' 'Her' skin is bronze, admittedly a very attractive bronze, and 'her' hair is a dark wavy mess, that looks kinda soft.

'She' was wearing dark tan sandals that hugged her feet firmly. 'She' wore a pair of black swim shorts which came down 'her' muscled legs and hung loosely by 'her' knees. And while I'll admit I wish 'she' wasn't wearing shorts, since we are at a beach, the blue tank top more than made up for it. The blue fabric gave 'her' upper body form, highlighting a muscled stomach and leaving lithe though strong arms bare to the world.

And then 'her' face. The way 'her' long wavy, dark brown, hair framed that animal like smirk was kinda pretty. So were the purple claw ear rings, not that I'd admit any of this.

"Why can't you just jump off the pier and leave me alone?"I growl and push myself up, holding my injured side as pain shot from what I just know will become a bruise on my arm.

"Hey Hope are you okay?" 'She' sounded worried, and judging by the frown on her face and the way she looked at my injury she was sorry to. "Here let me carry that…"

"Just jump off the damn pier and leave me alone." I growl and walk, heh actually it's more like an unbalanced hobble, towards the cabin.

"What's with the hostility?" 'She' didn't sound happy. "Aren't we buddy's?"

Buddies? I kind of wonder what drugs she must be on. Because 'that' is not my friend.

'She's' always doing something to me. From throwing books at me during class to stealing my lunch. Hell she beat me up once, though since it was after Vanille broke up with me maybe she thought I did something... But still she beat the crap out of me!

"No, we're not." I say harshly, praying it deters her from talking to me.

"Why not?" But of course that prayer is ignored, thank you very much Kami-sama.

"You're always bullying me." I fix her with my sternest stare, for good measure of course. "Embarrassing me in front of girls, forcing me to do your homework, borrowing my moped only to return it to me in pieces and." I pause a second, she's looking away from me and I want her to know the emphasis on this last one. "You hung me, by my underwear no less, from a flag pole in front of Lightning last week. Lightning, the girl I've had a huge crush on since Vanille broke up with me… which I kind of think was your fault to actually…"

"Hey, how was that my fault?" 'She' crossed her arms and shot me a glare. "I had nothing to do with Vanille breaking up with you…"

"Fang, you're her sister." I state simply, I don't want to confuse her with too many big words here. "And since the day I said hi to Vanille you've been trying to get rid of me."

"I…" Fang bit her lower lip, still not looking at me.

"That's what I thought." I turn my back to her, half expecting to get hit in the head, and walk towards the cabin.

After a moment I hear her footsteps following me, much to my chagrin. Why can't Fang leave me alone? I know she doesn't like me; heck since Vanille broke up with me Fang's been picking on me even more than normal… maybe she thinks I broke up with Vanille?

I shake my head, thinking about Fang is the last thing I want to do on my vacation. Too much stress revolved around my thoughts of her, and this was my break. No stress, no worries. Just me and about a dozen hot pockets in front of the TV watching some brain deadening program until I can't feel anything anymore.

So I take the last few steps up to the cabin. I grasp the polished bronze knob and with a push opened the door…

"Wow." To reveal what was possibly the worst mess I've ever seen. "Are you a hoarder Hope?"

I deliver the best glare I can must to Fang, who just rolls her eyes and smirks devilishly. At Least now I know why dad said I could hang out here for a week. This must have been where he goes when he has a fight with mom, and he figured I'd clean it up for him.

The living room was a large dark room, with pleasant blue walls and oaken floors. A large L couch was situated in a corner, across from the TV, with a nice coffee table in front of it. A very nice Persian style rug was under it, illuminated by the lights on the white ceiling fan which spun slowly over head.

Honestly it would be a nice place if it weren't for the mess. Clothes were thrown everywhere; trash littered the floor and on the ceiling was…

"Are those boxers yours?" A pair of black boxers, which were mine, that had white fangs on them were hanging from the ceiling fan, spinning slowly, mockingly… how did those even get here anyways?

"Maker take me now…" I beg as I feel her pat me hard on the back.

"Ah, you must have a secret thing for me then." I really hate the way she says that, makes my face hot and uncomfortable. "Don't worry I won't tell anyone." Oh and that wink! I think she's trying to lull me into a false sense of security before killing me.

Then again her names Fang. Maybe she's a vampire? Biding her time until she can suck my blood…

"I do not…" I take a few steps away from her, just in case. "And why the hell are you in my cabin anyways? I don't remember inviting you to join me."

"Ah." Fang pouts, but really it's not innocent and cute at all. "You don't want me here?"

"Nope, I don't want you here at all." And if a pout isn't cute and innocent it won't work on me. "Now leave." Which is probably why Vanille got away with pretty much anything she wanted to when we were going out.

"Hey come on Hope." Fang gave up on the pout and settles for a frown instead. "I need a place to stay for awhile, Vanille dropped me off a couple hours ago and with my driver's license revoked I can't really leave…"

"Your driver's license is revoked?" I raise an eyebrow at this. "How did that happen?"

Fang may have been irresponsible, annoying, mean and downright evil to me. But when it came to driving she loved it too much to do anything really wrong. She said it was the most free she's ever felt, so I don't think she'd be too irresponsible about it…

"Well I kinda got a ticket for speeding last week…" Fang grumbles, looking away from me and towards my boxers that are still spinning, tauntingly, from the fan. "Vanille screwed up my speedometer so I was going ten miles an hour faster than I thought I was… honestly Vanille has no talent when it comes to machines so I don't understand why she always thinks she can mess with my stuff."

I sigh. I completely understand, Vanille was always trying to 'fix' my stuff to. From the alarm clock, which short circuited and blew the houses breakers, to my moped, which literally blew up in a ball of flames one morning… I was just glad I wasn't on it when it decided to go.

"Fine." So I gave in. "You can stay here." Her pout may not have worked, but I just never could turn down someone who needs help. "But." Which is not to say she can do whatever she wants. "You have to listen to me here. This is where I'm staying and you can join me as long as you listen to me, alright?"

"Yes sir!" Fang had a Cheshire grin as she saluted me, with the wrong hand of course. "I'll listen to whatever you say as long as I'm here."

Why do I have the feeling I'm going to regret this? Probably because I will…

"Alright then." I toss my suitcases towards the couch. "I'm going to go find the hammock, you do whatever you want." And they land with soft thud sounds.

"Aren't ya going to clean the mess?" Fang cocks her head to the side and gives me what I can best describe as a 'mom' look. That look a mother gives her child when he needs them to do something now.

"No, I have no interest in cleaning my father's mess." I say honestly. "That's probably why he let me stay here so I would clean it. And I have no intention of giving in to his selfishness."

Fang locked eyes with me. One eyebrow was raised and her lips twitched in a vain attempt to stop a smirk, one of those lopsided 'you're an idiot' smirks.

"So you're going to leave the mess and become a sloppy pig instead?" Oh! There it is again, that smug voice. "I guess I should have expected it of you, I mean have you seen your locker at school…"

"You've been in my locker?" I knew instinctively that there was a blank, probably dumb, look on my face. An eyebrow was most definitely raised, one emerald eye was opened further then the other and my lips were drawn into a slight frown.

"…You trying to change the subject." And with that Fang turned her back to me, grumbling something under her breath that sounded like 'perceptive devil.'

"Even if I am what were you doing in my locker?" I have to know, after all if she set up some kind of trap that's just waiting for my return I should know about it right?

"I didn't do anything." I'm not sure because of her bronze skin but was her face a shade redder then normal? "Just returned a book Vanille borrowed, she said you were sad whenever she was around so I did it for her."

Actually that was pretty believable. I found a book I had been missing in my locker recently, but why would she be blushing then?

"Whatever." Doesn't matter, I need to find that hammock so I can…

"Hey ya still need to clean this mess." Fang's being very stubborn about this whole cleaning thing.

I look at her, trying to throw a glare her way. Fang's leaning against the wall with arms crossed over her stomach. Her face was neutral, which didn't help me figure out why she was so adamant about cleaning.

"Why should…" She unconsciously bit her lower lip, and it was cute. "…Alright fine." Way cuter then the pout, I hope she doesn't figure that out. "But don't try anything screwy." Because I do not need Fang, of all people, knowing how to manipulate me.

"Scouts honor." She grinned and I had a sinking feeling in the pit of my being...

* * *

><p>"I hate cleaning." I groan as I lay down on the couch.<p>

"It's only been ten minutes." Fang says, looking down on me with that damnable smirk. "You're a full fledged nerd, aren't you?"

"At least I'm not some muscle bound girl." I complain and roll over.

"Hey!" And get a foot in my side. "Ya better take that back." She's pissed, and that sandal clad foot is starting to hurt.

"Why, I thought you were proud you were so strong." I remark stubbornly, there's no way she's going to bully me on my vacation. Not as long as I have anything to say about it!

I was moderately surprised when I felt the weight of her foot leave my side. In my gut I felt like it was a trap, cleverly designed for me to look towards her and get her foot in the face instead of the side.

But trap or not curiosity got the better of me and slowly I look her way. Fang is standing by the couch, staring down at me. Her eyes are narrowed oddly and her lips are drawn in a thin line. A hand was on a hip and she seemed to be thinking about something.

I really can't read her body language; I never have been good at that. It's something that got me in trouble with Vanille when I mistook the pissed off pout with hands on hips for the cute pout that meant she was happy with me and kidding around, I got in a lot of trouble with that one.

But however in adept I was at reading body language even I could tell I was either about to be beaten to a pulp or, if you'll excuse the pun, hopefully ignored.

"What do you like about Lightning?" Fang asks, voice serious.

Well that wasn't what I expected, not at all.

"What?" I blink once disbelievingly.

"I asked what you liked about Lightning." Fang crosses her arms and starts to look annoyed, a look I'm very familiar with. "Is it her hair? Maybe it's that stupid jacket she likes…" Then Fang narrows her eyes at me, which probably isn't good. "Or are you staring at her…"

"Hold on a second." I interrupt because I know whatever was at the end of that sentence will be awkward, and I'm not ready for awkward right now. "Why do you want to know? Don't tell me your planning on ruining my shot with Lightning now." Yeah, let's piss her off Hope… good thinking…

"I-I." Did Fang, arguably the toughest person in school, just stutter? "Just wanted to know, what's so wrong about that?"

Maybe I should push my luck? Because there has to be a reason she wants to know about Lightning. Then again she just stuttered in front of me, do I really want to push the issue and get killed? No I don't! Not before I get to lie in the hammock and sleep all week.

"She's really pretty." I have to sound like some love sick puppy. "And she's great at everything she does." Then again I feel like a love sick puppy so I guess it fits. "And she's strong, really strong. I kind of want to be like her…"

"So you don't mind strong women?" Fang seemed awfully keen on this line of questioning.

"No, honestly the only girl I've ever really like who wasn't strong was Vanille." I mutter, though Vanille had a different kind of strength. I decide not to tell Fang that, it would take more time to explain and I'm not totally sure Fang would understand it anyways.

"Good." Fang smiles and sits on the couch next to me. "Then we don't have a problem."

Fang leans back and put's her hands behind her head and reclines like she doesn't have a care in the world. She even props her feet up on the coffee table and smirks, that devilish smirk that always makes me worry.

Maybe I'm over reacting. I try not to put much thought into it as I roll over and nestle into the side of the couch intent on taking a nap.

And I almost made it to the safety of dream land when Fang's laugh came. Now I would like to describe it as some evil bestial sound, but I would be lying. No it was actually a pleasant sound, light and happy if not a little gruff around the edges. And that stupid accent made it even cuter… if you could call anything about her cute.

"Hey Hope." I felt her hand on my shoulder, shaking lightly. "Come on, wake up." Her palm was surprisingly soft, not that I cared of course.

"What do you want?" I asked exasperatedly, tilting my head to the side so I can look up at her.

"I'm bored." She said with a grin.

"Good for you." I mutter and let my head drop back to the couch.

"Oh come on." She's leaning over me; I can feel her body press to against my back. "You're the host." Her head is right behind mine, A couple strands of wavy hair brush against my ear. My face is definitely bright red, and why does my stomach hurt so much?

"What does that have to do with anything?" I silently congratulate myself on keeping an even tone of voice, because I almost squeaked and I am not giving her the satisfaction of hearing me do that.

"Come on, I'm bored!" She's still complaining, and in my ear no less.

Maybe I should give in and tell her where my laptop is? I'm sure even Fang, the least tech savvy person I've ever met, can find something to occupy herself with online…

Then again do I really want to traumatize my laptop like that?

"You can clean?" The answer is no, the poor thing went through enough when Vanille used to borrow it. There's really no reason to let Fang kill the poor computer.

"Clean?" Fang moved away from me, standing up and crossing her arms again. "Come on Hope, we can play soccer. It'll be fun; I'll even go easy on you."

"I don't like sports." I muttered and try to burry myself further into the couch.

Okay not liking sports is a bit of a lie. I used to play on my old schools football team, and before that I was pretty good at soccer and surfing. But Fang's involved. And whenever Fang and sports get together someone almost winds up dead… actually that seems to happen whenever I'm around Fang at all, she almost killed me with a magazine once which is nothing compared to the damage she did to my house with a text book…

"Then why do you always watch the girls playing soccer?" Fang asks, and I know there's a raised eyebrow.

"Because Lightning's on the soccer team and those shorts are really cute." I answer without hesitation, better then admitting I kind of wanted to play soccer again and since there isn't a guy team the best I can do is watch.

"What about me?" I can practically hear Fang's pout. "I play soccer to, and I'm way cuter then Lightning."

"Not really."Fang is not cuter then Lightning, and even if she was I'd never admit it to her.

"Hey!" Fang shouts, she sounds pissed off. "There's way more guys interested in me then Lightning."

I roll over and stared up at the angry Fang. Arms crossed, eyes narrowed and a scowl which showcased her sharp teeth in a threatening manner. This look reminded me of a pissed off wolf about to brutally maul someone, namely me.

"I think that's because she scares most guys away." I say as I rise to a sitting position, napping is out of the question for now anyways. "I mean just look at Lightning, she looks scary with those narrowed eyes. And she's beaten up every guy in school…"

"Except you." Fang frowned, thinking about something for a moment, and then shrugged."Guess you look to fragile to really hit, kind of like a girl…"

I do not like it when Fang has a contemplative expression. It can only spell certain doom for me.

"I do not look like a girl." I protest angrily.

Okay I'll admit my face is softer than most guys. And my body may have a more feminine shape than most men. But I am not a girl, my voice is soft but it's still a guys. I mean okay there was an old lady at the store who thought I was a girl because my hairs longer than most males… But Fang do you seriously think I look like a girl? I don't know why but that kind of hurts…

"Hey I think it's kinda cute." She says so simply, like she was pointing out the sky is blue or that it sucks to get sand in your underwear. "Besides I guess since you don't want to play you can't really prove me wrong can you?"

Oh so that was her game. Bait me into playing with taunts. Does she really think such a childish strategy will work on me? What does she think I am, fourteen?

"Guess you're not tough enough for Lightn'in." Fang grins, she knows my weakness. "I mean Cid would have taken me up on that in a heartbeat. Maybe she should go out with him?" Curse you Fang, curse you.

"Fine." I say in a half sigh half growl. "I'll play soccer with you." She seems to beam at this, making me wonder if I just signed my death warrant.

"Then let's go…"

* * *

><p>"Ya ready Hope?" Fang asks, putting a soccer ball on the ground in front of her bare feet.<p>

"No, but let's do this anyways." I mutter, giving my bare feet a glance.

We were behind the cabin with the ocean to our side. For some reason Fang had insisted on playing without sandals so we were both wearing swim trunks and a shirt, for me a yellow T-shirt and her that blue tank top.

She grins and I start to regret this. Maybe I should have kept trying for that nap?

But as Fang brought her foot back to kick I realized it was too late to turn back now.

Fang's foot moved fast as she kicked the ball with her toe. It became a white blur heading straight for my head, but that wasn't a problem.

Her kick was very straightforward, very practiced. And since I've watched her play against Lightning so much it was also very predictable.

I gave the fast moving ball a head but. For a second I thought it would force my head back violently, because that sucker hurt. But that split second passed and it went towards Fang's stomach.

"I guess." With a quick, and low, spin she kicked the ball with her heel. "The rumors are true." It was far more reminiscent of a fighter then a soccer player. "You did play soccer."

The ball was moving way faster. I wasn't going to get away with another head but, not that I was going to anyways.

"Not just soccer." I move my body into a back flip.

The side of my foot connects and sends the ball airborne. I land on my feet and do a quick spin, keeping my limbs close to my body to maximize speed, and kicked the ball back at her.

"Good." Unfortunately for me she's not playing nice anymore, and her reflexes are infinitely superior to mine…"I guess I don't feel so guilty about this then!"

She kicked it. And this time I swear it made a sonic boom as it came at me.

"Ah shi…" I think there was a cracking sound as the ball impacted me squarely in the crotch.

The impact was enough to force my body to flip over. I landed hard on my face, loud groans of pain escaping my lips.

"Ah crap!" She sounds concerned, that's nice if she sounded happy I'd be really pissed. "Hope are you okay?" Why yes I am, you just turned my privates into a pancake and probably ended my ability to have children when I'm married. But I'm really just peachy.

"Man oh man." She does sound worried… wonder If I can guilt her into cooking dinner? "I'm so sorry!" Good, now I want pizza… Wait is she picking me up?

Fang had rolled over me and was picking me up. I was shocked enough that the intense, no mind killing, pain in my groin seemed distant for a moment as she held me bridal style in her arms. This was weird… but I'm not sure if I mind so much. Under other circumstances it might have been kind of nice.

She rushes into the house and sets me down on the couch. She looks… kinda worried. I've never seen her look like that concerning anyone but Vanille.

"F-Fang." I groan, the pain really is overwhelming.

"Hey just go to sleep for awhile." She grins, okay now I'm worried again. "I'll wake you up later. Right now you need to rest, okay?" She's trying to comfort me. Wow, I can feel my face heating up again.

And as I start to black out I can't help but think that this vacation is going to be anything but boring…

* * *

><p><strong>(AN)**

**Hey. I'm not dead, life's just been a… well you know. It rhymes with itch. I've been super busy with my school deciding it was a good time to start testing, I hate math by the way, and getting ready to take my college entrance exams I've just been super busy. It's just been a stress full time of my life…**

**That's not an excuse for not getting my stuff done on schedule, but it is the reason why. **

**Now why did I start a HopexFang piece? Well normally I'm a hopexlightning guy, it just makes sense to me. But a friend wanted me to write a FangxHope piece because he said it's an underserviced part of the community. I told him it'd have to wait until after I finish my other story's, he offered me twenty bucks… Now I'm a typical perpetually broke teenager. And I'm going to be meeting this really cute girl next week, who thinks I'm cute(: so I need some pocket money. It's what I call equal exchange… and I kind of find hopexfang interesting anyways, so I have an excuse to write it.**

**Not to mention it gives me a chance to try out a first person perspective before I publish I'm a guy, I swear. So, if you'll forgive the pun, it lets me sharpen my fangs a bit before hand.**

**Now I know Hope's OOC (out of character) but in the game he was fourteen. Even over two years teenagers tend to change drastically. Fang strikes me as OOC as well. Honestly she's one my favorite characters from the game, but I've never written a character like her so I probably got it wrong. Give me some time and I'll get 'er right. Or at least figure out how to write that cool accent of hers...  
><strong>

**And honestly I've been gone from Because you are my Hope and Legacy of the forgotten for three weeks now. I need to read over them before continuing so I can remember where I was going with those story's. **

**And as my final note I will be posting another fic tonight. The rewrite of the FFXIII story. I've gotten more messages concerning that anything else so I think it's only right to post what I've got, and since I've found a site that has the game in watchable format I can write it fairly quickly… and I'm really enjoying that one so I want to share.**

**Bah, sorry it's a long Authors note…**

**Disclaimer:**

**I do not own it. Final Fantasy XIII is the property of square enix… except a copy of the game. That's mine and they ain't getting it back…**

**Laters!  
>Chazz<strong>


	2. Are we friends? Or does he hate me?

"F-Fang…" Hope groans in pain, he sounds so pissed…

"Hey just go to sleep for awhile?" What should I do? I know! Smile, smiling makes everyone feel better. "I'll wake you up later." Shit! He looks suspicious again! "Right now you need to rest, okay?" I really hope that sounded comforting… Oh wait, I guess it doesn't matter. He just blacked out…

Great. He's out, now what do I do? Should I wake him up? Aren't you supposed to stop people from blacking out… or was that just when they have a concussion?

Man, is he still breathing? I can't see his stomach move up and down like do when they're breathing. I killed him, that's it I went and killed him. Now what do I do?

Wait; when people stop breathing at the beach don't life guards give them mouth to… No! No way, forget it… but he's not breathing.

Wait, I remember a doctor doing something… chest compromises… chest compressed…. Chest compressions? Yes chest compressions.

I put the palm of my hand over his chest. Now what do I do? Crap, if I do this wrong can't I break a rib? I wonder if he'd be angrier that I broke a rib or crushed his testicles? Crap, I should just do the stupid mouth to mouth thing… at least I don't think I'd hurt him doing that.

"F-Fang…" He's alive! His body shuddered as he said my name breathlessly, I kind of wish I had gone ahead and done that mouth to… "I'm going to kill you." Oh. Never mind, that one kinda hurt.

I take my hands off his chest and sat down on the floor. I lean back against the arm of the couch, my head resting against the comfy top.

It's pretty quiet now. I can hear the ceiling fan spin 'round and 'round and the tick of a clock somewhere in the house.

Why was I here anyways? I don't really know, Vanille said we were going down to get my license renowned. Then she pulls up here, shoves me out and tells me to spend the week with Hope…

How did Vanille know Hope would be here anyways? I know Vanille is odd, but I don't think she's a stalker. Then again she did follow Hope around a lot after we met him…

Huh, how long ago was it? Two or three years I guess.

Honestly we shouldn't have ever crossed paths. I'm one the most feared fighters in school. Captain of the soccer team, biker, brawler and generally the second most avoided person in school, right after miss sunshine herself, Lightning.

And Hope's… a nerd. Kinda geeky sometimes, pretty physically weak and way too smart for high school, and kinda cute when he wants to be. Honestly he should have just avoided me like everyone else, but something about Hope's just odd. He doesn't care what people think, he's just himself.

And part of that is being a good person.

I had picked a fight with a bunch of dumb jocks. One of them had hurt Vanille, punched her, and I'd be damned before I let 'em get away with that. But I may be one of the best fighters in school, but six dumb football players are a lot. And a crowd that's more than willing to help them out isn't an easy thing to deal with either.

In the end I got beat and thrown against a locker. I was about to get the crap beaten out of me, and I was kinda ready for it. Before he died dad used to beat sometimes so it wasn't a big deal.

But then he showed up. I don't really think I'll ever forget it. He jumped over the crowd, and that's something since he's shorter than most of the people at school. It was really cool, like something out of an action movie. He landed lightly and rolled in front of me, one of the jocks backed up away from him in surprise.

He said. "Don't you jerks have anything better to do then hit a girl?" I was so surprised. I mean I've never seen a guy do anything like that before, the guys I know are all really self centered and really don't care.

Of course their leader, what was his name? Gadot? Pointed out I had started it. Hope glanced at me over his shoulder. We had never met, but I know he knows who I am. And I know he believed them, but he gave me a wink. Like he was saying he had this, or everything was going to be alright.

"You won." Hope said, not backing off an inch as the towering form of Gadot got in his face. "There's no reason to beat her." I really wanted to tell him to go, this wasn't his business. I was about to when his body slammed against the locker next to me, Gadot had hit him and I swear I heard something crack.

"Stay out of things that don't concern you." Gadot had warned, he was really pissed off. I kinda kicked him in the groin so it was understandable I guess, I mean normally he's sort'a mellow so I know I pissed him off if he's doing this.

"Jerk." I mutter and use the locker to stand up. "Just because your stronger doesn't mean you can hit anyone ya feel like…" And he punched me.

I'm not exactly sure what happened after that. I know one of the jocks, Gadot actually, got sent to the hospital and a few others were absent for a few days nursing their wounds… and me and Hope wound up sitting side by side waiting to get chewed out by the principal.

His eye was black and he kept grabbing at his stomach painfully. He looked like crap; I bet he felt like crap to.

I wasn't much better. I couldn't open my left eye hardly at all and the nurse had to wrap me left arm because I'd somehow cut it, and the bandages were getting kinda red.

"Why'd ya do that?" Injured or not, I was still curious. I still wanted why someone like him, a good kid with a good life ahead of him, would stick his neck out for me, a punk with a temper.

"Because." He just shrugs like what he's about to say is the simplest thing in the world. "It was the right thing to do…"

That's how I met Hope Esthiem. He met Vanille a little later and they started dating.

I was kinda glad for her. I mean the two looked pretty happy together, maybe I was a little bit jealous but I was still happy for 'em. And then they broke up a year ago. Vanille never told me why, and she seemed just as happy as ever.

But I'm her big sister. I had to find out if it was Hope's fault so I talked to him… and got mad. And kinda hit him, I may have done more than just hit him I don't really remember anymore…

"And now I go and crush his nuts…" I growl, staring up angrily at the ceiling fan.

I'm still not sure why it matters so much. I mean didn't he break up with Vanille? So it shouldn't matter… I shouldn't be kinda glad to be here with him. It's very confusing, and if I don't stop thinking about it I'm going to go insane.

Maybe I should clean up? I mean this place is a pigsty, and if I say that it means something. There's still trash and dirty clothes covering more of the floor then not. And those boxers are still on the ceiling fan… actually maybe I should leave those up there. I don't Hope can get 'em down its perfect material to jibe him over.

And his face is so cute when you start to get under his skin…

Cleaning takes a few hours. It isn't really that hard, I mean compared to Vanille's room this is pretty easy. Vany's room is, well how do I say it nicely? It's like a nuclear disaster zone. Clothes are thrown everywhere; you kinda sink up to your ankles when you walk through it. Her stuff is tossed aside so you can step on everything from a cup to one of those rod things she likes to collect.

And with that pout of hers somehow I wind up cleaning it every time. Though I think everyone's vulnerable to that pout, Hope most certainly was.

But I guess it gave me the experience I need to take care of this mess. Three trash bags, the big black ones, and a couple hampers later it was pretty good. And I was pretty tired. Not that I mind being tired, it means I've worked hard and I don't mind that.

I walk over to the couch and kneel down next to Hope. He's breathing easy now. He even looks kind of peaceful. He recovered faster from that then some of the really tough guys at school. I guess he's kinda strong to, in his own way.

Maybe I should cook? He's probably going to be hungry when he wakes up, and it'll help me kinda say I'm sorry. Besides I like cooking, well a little bit. It's been a long time since I cooked, so maybe it's time to see if I can still do it.

So with the intent of cooking I get up and head to the kitchen… and sigh in defeat when I see the sorry shape it's in.

Now once this would have been a nice place. With greenish marble countertops. A black double oven, shining silver gas burners and cabinets made from a pleasantly dark stained wood. And the shining silver fridge in the corner.

However now dirty pots and pans filled the sink up. Mysterious brown stains, maker please let that be beans or something, cover the counters. The ovens are full of pans with what looks like old food in them, all of the burners but one look like something exploded, the fridge was seemed to have been attacked by a three year old armed with spaghetti and as if all that wasn't bad enough the floor was littered with takeout boxes and paper plates.

"If I ever meet this Bartholomew guy." I can feel a vein in my forehead pulse as a shot of anger floods my system. "I'm going to beat the shit out of him."

* * *

><p>I swear off cleaning. No more, it's more of a hassle then its worth. It was now four in the evening, I had started like a couple hours ago. How can someone make a mess like that? There was old pizza stuck to top of the stove, Chinese takeout strewn under a pizza box like some kind of abstract art. And I swear something in one of those stupid pans in the stove moved…<p>

Hope better appreciate this when he wakes up.

So I guess it's time to get on with cooking. I was making the one dish that had always been really like when I cooked, stew in a pressure cooker.

With the now clean counters, thankfully that stuff had been beans, I got to work. One thing I was always good with was a knife. There was, thankfully, fresh vegetables and meat in the fridge.

It was a little surprising. This place may have been a dump, but everything in the fridge was fresh. I guess Hope's dad decided if his son was going to be staying here he might as well have fresh food for him to eat.

So with the speed and grace of a warrior my knife flashes through the air. It's easy to cut up vegetables and meat. Actually I kind of enjoy it; something about it is kind of soothing to me. Can't really explain it, but it calms me down a little bit.

Which is probably why I always get done so fast. I dump vegetables, beef broth, meet and peppers into the stew… peppers because I like hot food.

I take a moment to grin at the pressure cooker as it, well you know, cooks. Which was about the time I hear a squeak. I turn my head to the side and look behind me. A mouse is sitting atop the counter, sniffing the air for food.

I feel my skin crawl. I really don't like mice, when we were kids Vanille put one in my shoe and that was so creepy. I've hated them ever since.

But I'm not some stupid girl that hops on a chair when a mouse runs by. No I'm the kind of girl that reaches for the meat cleaver, which is a very big cleaver by the way, and grin like an animal at it.

The mouse seems to sense its peril, or at least knows what the massive knife I have in my hand is going to be used for. It squeaks so innocently, even batting those pink eyes at me. Its body shivers and I guess it kinda looks cute when it does that, but it's a mouse and I don't care how cute it is.

"You go 'in stay there a moment while Fang takes care of ya?" I say softly as I slowly approach it. The cleaver's 'bout two feet long so I don't need to be that close to hit it.

But as the mouse takes off in the other direction I get the feeling I'm not the first person to threaten it with a long pointy thing.

"Get back here ya damn mouse!" I shout and take off after it.

The blasted thing is fast for a mouse. It shoots down the hall like a rocket and into the living room. But my legs are longer so I can catch up.

Catching up wasn't the problem, the thing running around the living room like some kind of crazed monkey was the problem. It went under the coffee table, so being the sensible person I am I kicked it over. But no, that couldn't just stop him. The mouse somehow makes it under the table and under the couch.

"Shit." I mutter and push the coffee table away. I start to wonder if I can make a bomb and chuck it under the couch to blow it away.

Which was about the time it jumped up on the back of the couch. With a maniacal grin I raise the cleaver and put a foot on the edge of the couch, about to put the thing out of its misery with one grand swin…

"Fang?" Which is when I realize the mouse is sitting on the back of the couch above Hope's head.

I look down at him, stupid grin firmly in place. He's staring wide eyed at me, eyes bouncing between the cleaver and me.

Oh man, this looks bad.

"Fang!" He sits up straight so fast I swear there was a motion blur. "Oh dear maker!" The mouse hops on his shoulders, looking just as terrified as Hope.

"N-now I know this looks bad…" No, do you think Fang? He thinks you were trying to kill him with meat cleaver, but it just looks bad… I'm so screwed.

"Save me!" And with that Hope jumps over the back of the couch, hitting the ground with a thud and somehow managing to crawl across the ground at speed. "What the hell Fang!" His back hits the wall and he staring at me like I'm some kind of demon.

"It's not what it looks like." Because I really don't want to hurt you, it just happens sometimes. "I was trying to get the mouse…"

"With a meat cleaver!" Hope slowly stands, and he's yelling at me. I don't like it when he yells at me, makes me feel kinda bad inside. "Fang do you know how dangerous that is? You could have seriously hurt yourself." Wait, what?

"What do you care if I hurt myself?" I frown, this doesn't sound right. I mean he really doesn't think very highly of me, so why would he care?

"I." He looks away and blushes, I really like that color on his face. "I just don't want to be responsible for you getting hurt. I mean you're my guest so you're my responsibility." He doesn't sound very convincing, call it a women's intuition but there's more to it than that.

"Sorry. Are you feeling… you know better?" Not that I'm going to push, I don't know if I want to know what more he means.

"Uh." Hope looks down at his crotch; it's kind of funny to see him staring at his crotch. "Actually I feel alright." The mouse, still on his shoulder, looked down as well and squeaked its approval.

Hope looks at the mouse. I kind of expect him to jump out of his skin; he can be a real girl sometimes. But surprisingly he reaches up and gives it a pat on the head.

"She scare you to?" Hope asks the mouse, which shivers and squeaks softly. "Fang you scared him."

Is it just me, or does this moment seem really absurd?

"So?" I say, making sure I sound as stubborn as I can.

"Apologize too little Alex." Did he just name the mouse? "He's really scared."

Wait, Hope named the mouse? And he expects me to apologize to the creepy little thing?

"Did you name the mouse?" I have to know I'm not hearing things.

"Yeah. Little Alex." Hope gives the mouse a glance, the little critter stood proudly on his shoulder and puffed out its chest. "Reminds me of Alexander from school." Oh. I know Alexander. He's one of the guys that hangs out with Hope, dresses regally with blond hair, strong jaw line, and piercing grey eyes.

"Why would I want to apologize to 'that?'?" No way am I calling a mouse by anything but mouse, or vermin. Vermin works to.

"Because you scared him." Hope looks so serious. I wonder what's going through his head? Is he just teasing me, or is he serious?

"What do I get if I do apologize?" Heh, now I don't have to apologize. There's no way Hope's going to give in and give me anything.

"We can." Hope closes his eyes in though, is he for real? "Hang out or something… just no sports."

I blink once, twice, dumbly. He's dead serious, we'll hang out later. I feel… really good. And my stomach feels weird.

"Sorry." But feeling good or not, apologizing to a mouse is hard. "Alex, I'll go put the cleaver up."

Alex, great now I'm calling that, squeaked happily and jumped down to the floor. I had the strongest urge to throw the cleaver at him, I know I'd've hit him. But then again do I really want to make Hope mad right now?

I walk back to the kitchen. And I know Hope's following me. I can feel his eyes on my back, I grin. He's staring.

I don't really think about it much as I walk into the kitchen. Though I kind of like the surprised gasp he made when he saw it was clean. I like surprising him, makes me happy.

"See the benefit of cleaning." I put the cleaver up and sit on the counter, grinning like a fool.

"No." Hope crosses his arms and looks away from me, blushing again. "Now dad's going to expect me to clean up after his mess." I roll my eyes, would a thank you be out of the question.

"Trust me, if you had seen the kitchen you wouldn't have wanted to anything I cooked here." Hope's eyes roll towards me, a frown on his face.

"You cook?" Why does everyone sound so surprised when they find out I can cook?

"Yeah." I nod my head towards the pressure cooker. "Mum's always working so I used to cook all the time before Vanny decided she wanted to."

"What about your dad, isn't he there to cook?" I wince a little bit at his question.

"He left us." I mutter, looking away from him. "I haven't seen dad in six years."

It's silent. I guess he walked away, maybe he just rolled his eyes and laughed on the inside…

"I'm sorry for you." My body becomes rigid as I feel his arms wrap around me. "I don't know what it's like for a parent to run away." My face is so hot, can a face explode if it gets to hot? "But I'm really sorry for you."

Why was he doing this? This was the part of Hope that made no sense. He's so kind, a few minutes ago he was scared of me. Now he's trying to comfort me and be a friend…

Are we friends? I always thought so. We act kind of like siblings sometimes, and he's always so nice to me… even when I do something stupid to him. I think he's a friend, I know I'd beat up anyone that hurt him. But I don't know what he thinks.

"Don't worry 'bout it." My arms hug him back, head resting against his forehead. "I'm used to it. Me and Vany are doing just fine on our own."

He lets me go and steps back, looks away a moment and then back. He nods and hops on the counter next to me.

"So Fang." Hope puts his fist into the palm of his other hand and holds it out in front of his body. "Do you know how to play rock paper scissors?"

* * *

><p>I glare at Hope over the dinner table. Just because he won, one hundred sixty to four, did not mean he could do 'this' to me.<p>

Hope seems to sense my glare and he looks up from where he was dishing two bowls of stew and tries for an innocent smile, but its cuteness is not going to get the better of me this time… okay maybe it will.

"Something wrong Fang?" Oh he's even using that cute tone of voice… damn it's pretty effective.

"Why did you invite 'that' to the table?" I think I sound annoyed, but as Hope grins I can tell it's not enough to make him banish our guest from the table.

"But Alex was hungry to." Hope defends; if there was a cuteness meter his face would have broken it.

"That doesn't mean he gets a chair at the table." I argue, Hope's going to get it for this someway somehow.

Alex squeaks innocently. I give him a glare.

The mouse is sitting atop a bunch of books stacked up so he could just manage to rest his top paws on the table top. His eyes were trying that innocent look that Hope wore, and if the top of his head wasn't silver it wouldn't have worked. But the stupid mouse resembled Hope just a little too much for comfort.

"Here ya go Alex." He set's one of the bowls down on the book pile beside Alex. "He's not eating on the table, but I don't trust you anywhere near him."

Well I could understand that notion. I don't like mice, and I would love to get rid of this one. But if Hope's so adamant about keeping him around I guess I won't complain, too much.

"Fine." I make sure I sound like I'm doing him a favor, even though since it's what he wants I don't mind. "Do whatever you want."

"Thank you." Hope sounds happy. Okay, mouse eating at the dinner table was worth it.

Hope then folds his hands and says a quick prayer. I hurry and fold my hands together, just like Hope, and duck my head until he ends the prayer. It's not something I'm used to doing over food, at my house its hurry up and eat before Vanille finishes dinner off. But it was kind of nice, Hope taking that moment to say thanks.

Not as nice as the face he made when he put the first spoonful in his mouth. He looked so surprised, I could feel a note of pride well up in my chest as he stares amazed at the stew. But then he catches my grin, blushes, and goes on eating as though nothing had happened.

But I don't mind. Hope liked my cooking, that was good enough.

We didn't really talk during dinner. It was silent, but it was a comfortable silence. Like we didn't have to talk. I enjoyed that…

And when dinner was done he silently washed dishes with me. Neither of us really said anything, but it was good. Maybe we are friends?

"Hey Fang." Hope's somber voice fills the silence gently.

"Ya?" My voice on the other hand just kind of breaks it…

"You've got something on your face." I'm about to ask where when I feel a napkin press against my right cheek and wipe. I know I froze to the spot, probably jerked a little, but Hope didn't say anything.

When he was done he threw the tissue away and put the last dish down.

"You want to watch TV?" He asks, yawning slightly.

"Aren't you tired?" I ask curiously.

"Not that tired." Yeah, that's why you keep yawing. "Besides I said we'd hang out right? Since we're going to be stuck here together for a week might as well start now." Okay, now that made me feel happy. How can he just say something and make me feel happy?

"Alright, but." I give Alex, who's still eating, a pointed look. "He's not coming."

"Actually." Hope grins that stupid grin only a tired Hope has. "It would be weird if he did join us…"

So we walked back to the couch and turned on the TV. Hope absently flipped through channels before stopping on an old doctor who episode. It was from one of the original series, when the doctor was an old man.

"I always liked this show." Hope yawns and I feel his head slowly rest on my shoulder. "Kinda used to want to be like the doctor…" I can feel goose bumps spring up along my arms and back, this is awkward… "But I kinda think it would be lonely, living as long as him."

"What if ya had someone to spend it with?" why am I asking this?

"Maybe it wouldn't be so bad." He makes a snorting sound as he falls on my shoulder. "But let's be serious, who would want to spend an eternity with me?" I was quiet a moment, just long enough to hear a snore escape his lips and feel his warm breath wash over the skin of my neck.

"You never know." My heart's beating fast; it beats faster as I raise a hand to run through his hair. "Someone may be just a little closer then you think…" I wasn't sure what I said as I yawn and lean my head back.

As sleep overtakes my mind I can't help but wonder what tomorrow will be like…

* * *

><p><strong>(AN)**

**Wow. That's the most views I've ever gotten for a story's first chapter. I'm kinda glad because writing in the first person, for me, takes about twice the effort as a third person view. I guess the community for this pairing's bigger then I thought it was.**

**Personally I don't mind this pairing. It is a crack pairing (I think I used that term right) but it's an interesting one. **

**Now someone asked me why Hope is always getting hurt in my stories. In all the works I have posted on this sight I've, cut his limbs off (all of 'em) almost set him on fire, crushed his testicles in a way that hurt to write about and killed him. I'm sure I missed a few things but yeah I'm pretty mean to Hope. But it's really his fault, he's the one that refused to stay alive in the game. He didn't mind dying, a lot, in my play through of the game so I don't think he minds much now…  
>Actually I don't care to inflict as much pain to the poor guy as I do it just kind of happens. I really don't mean to almost always kill Hope, I guess he just drew the short straw when I was deciding which characters to be nice to.<strong>

**I don't think this one was quite as good as the first. But Fang's mind is harder for me to wrap my head around then Hope. Hope is pretty straightforward, he's a good person and even if he's angry or depressed he's still pretty much the same. Fang's… I have no idea. But I think I did alright, I think it was funny so 'shrug' Next chapter should be better, I'm starting to hatch a plan… (insert evil laugh here)**

**And as for Fang coming off as a bit of a bully In the first chapter, I'll give you that. Just remember that there are always two sides of a story. And since this is a first person view (I want to call it a FPV so bad…) There are also two perceptions of events. Honestly I remember now why I started writing in third person. It's easier to portray exactly what's going on, and since I normally have four main characters and about a dozen or so side characters it's the only way I've found to make a complex plot understandable.  
>However since we're dealing mostly with just two characters here I think it's a good idea to write it like this.<strong>

**Um lets see there was one more thing, how do you tell when I transition between points of view? A lot of my writing is taught. I learned from a bunch of people. And the cardinal rule I was taught is if you write first person then stick with one character a chapter. Switching your points of view between characters forces the reader to change their focus. Instead get your reader to focus on that one character, it tends to give them a better understanding of that character and generally gets them attached to that character.**

**Well that's what I was taught anyways. Hope it helps if anyone was confused.**

**Anyways one last note. This story is set one an eight to nine day production schedule. I'll try to get a chapter out every Saturday, but if I can't just remember it's not scheduled for it. This gives me the time to do this right. And starting Monday Legacy of the Forgotten will be put on the same schedule. Now that I've read back over it and remember where I was going I will continue it.**

**Reviews:**

**Thank you, Scion of Hades, AssasinZAssasin, Gravenimage, RaidEye, Grim Grey, Venrosonitas and CetraTezirit for reviewing. This chapter only out this early because of you guys, so thanks.**

**Disclaimer:**

Do I own this? Yep, I own the story. Oh, you meant Final Fantasy XIII. Well I asked Fang about it and she pulled a meat cleaver on me so no… but me and Alex the mouse are making a plan so don't fret, we'll rest it from Square Enix's hands as soon as possible… or get cleaved trying.


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